Lithuanians

Neighborhoods They Settled In: Goodrich, St. Clair, Collinwood

First Immigrants 1870

The first Lithuanian settlement in Cleveland began in 1870. St. George’s Lithuanian Catholic Church was organized in 1887. By 1900 there were approximately 1,000 Lithuanians in Cleveland. The earliest neighborhood of Lithuanians was at E. 21^st and Oregon Avenue. Movement began by 1920 towards E. 17^th and extending to E. 71^st Streets including Lakeside Avenue to Payne Avenue. A few families began to locate in what was to become the largest center of Lithuanians in Cleveland – The Superior-St. Clair area around St. George's. The second largest Lithuanian community occupied the Collinwood-Nottingham section, settling near their church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The majority of Lithuanians are Roman Catholic. There is a smaller number of Lithuanian Lutherans and a good number of Lithuanian Jews in the Cleveland area.

1942 Report by the WPA:

The first Lithuanians to come to Cleveland arrived in 1870. In 1887 St. George Lithuanian Catholic Church was founded. Until 1912 Lithuanians were found in the neighborhoods of E. 21^st St. and Oregon Avenue. At one time a small group lived in the vicinity of Jefferson and Starkweather Avenues, but these families joined the northeast settlement which is the largest. Lithuanians are also found thinly scattered over the entire section between E. 17^th and Rockefeller Park. They are found in greatest numbers between Lakeside and Payne Avenues. Some live as far south as Superior and their religious center is T. Georges Catholic Church at Superior and E. 67^th. The second largest Lithuanian colony is the Collinwood/Nottingham Section centered around the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Another smaller group of Lithuanians live among the Poles on Cleveland’s far south side in the Corlett district.